Tuesday, March 19, 2013

There are some things that should no longer happen to us after we reach a certain age.
Like appendicitis.
Or tonsilitis.
Turns out we're not safe at any age.
My father-in-law, Jim Manring, found that out the hard way.
We'd gone to a spring training game at Ed Smith Stadium last Thursday and had a good time, but that changed after he got home.
That's when the abdominal pains began.
Despite his wife's concerns and offers to take him to the hospital, Jim toughed it out that night and most of Friday.
He figured it would go away, but it didn't.
Finally, Sue Manring took her husband to Lakewood Ranch Medical Center Friday night.
He would have to have an appendectomy.
A former three-sport athlete in high school athlete in Gahanna, Ohio, Jim figured he'd be in and out in no time.
Just like NBA players who are back on the court in a day or two after a similar procedure, he told the nurse.
Sue rolled her eyes.
"My husband forgets he's 75," she said.
Well, the procedure was Saturday morning and my father-in-law would have been out the next day, except for a stubborn infection.
So the doctor was going to keep him there a few more days.
We thought it would be the end of the week before Jim got out, but it was Tuesday afternoon when they decided he was good enough to go home.
I doubt they could've kept him much longer anyway.
He and his wife have an upcoming date in Biloxi, Miss.
Keep them from their periodic trip to play the slots?
Not a chance.